


A Hero No More

by Willowcat88



Category: Youtube RPF, escape the night - Fandom
Genre: #LeaveTealaAlone, Alternate Universe, Angstangstangst, Antidote Denial, Death, Gen, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Poison, Regret, Rescue Missions, Search for a Cure, Terminal Illnesses, Willing Death, failure - Freeform, i mean eehh kinda, snake bites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-07-23 22:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16168196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowcat88/pseuds/Willowcat88
Summary: An Escape the Night AUHe doesn't feel like a hero. Heroes don't need rescuing - they are the rescuers. Heroes don't lie on the couch, in agony - they get up and get through it. He can't do any of that - does that mean he's not a hero?In other words, I'm making a huge, huge mistake.





	A Hero No More

Roi is in agony. He and Teala have tried to decipher the clue, they have tried so hard, but he can't think straight, because  _it hurts, oh god it hurts, please make it stop it hurts it hurts it hu **rts it hurts** **-**_

He shakes his head, trying to clear it, but he just feels dizzy. With Calliope and Teala's help, he stumbles back to the couch, lying down again. Roi cries out in pain as a burning sensation begins in his stomach. Great,  _more_ pain.  _Just_ what he needed.

He doesn't feel like himself anymore. He doesn't feel like a hero. Heroes don't need rescuing - they _are_ the rescuers. Heroes don't lie on the couch, in agony - they get up and get through it. He can't do any of that - does that mean he's not a hero? Roi doesn't want to think about it, but he realises that it does mean that, it does mean that he's nota hero. A hero would've saved everyone and Everlock, and then be home in time for tea. A hero wouldn't have been bitten in the first place.

Teala's terrified. Roi only has minutes to live, and if he dies, there'll be no-one left, except Ro, who cares for her, and that puts a target on her back. Another one. And it also means, if they don't get that antidote, she only has about 10 minutes to live, which is never good.

 _What if they don't get the antidote in time for Roi? What if they don't get it in time for_ either  _of us?_ She shudders at the thought, trying to push it away, but it keeps eating at her. So, she focuses her attention on whispering reassurances in Roi's ear.

Colleen rushes through the door, a vial of green liquid in her hands. Her eyes are fearful and panicked, but Teala's heart leaps.  _It's the antidote!_ she thinks, and then she sees the way Colleen's nervously biting her lip and she thinks twice.  _It has to be, right?_

"Okay, it said this was wrong, but we have to try something! Matt's trying his best, but we keep getting something wrong and we have to do  _something!"_ Colleen's voice is rising in pitch, desperation laced through it.

Calliope nods, grimly, and ushers her over to Roi's side. The Disco Dancer speaks gently, the pipette of green liquid in her hand.

"Hey, Roi? It's me, Colleen. I'm gonna need you to try to swallow something. Can you do that? Can you do that for me?" she whispers, tears pricking in her eyes at the state of the Daredevil.

Roi hesitates, then nods, only once, before trying to push himself up on his elbows, then slipping down again. Teala rushes to help him, propping him up. She knows he hasn't got long, and the acidic burning in her neck- that slowly travelling outwards to the rest of her - tells her she doesn't have forever either. She hopes that this 'failed' antidote is by some miracle the right one and that herself and Roi are going to be magically cured. 

She also knows the chances of that happening are very,  _very_ slim. Even so, she lets Colleen drip the deep green liquid into his mouth, quietly encouraging him to swallow it. He does, and they wait. Nothing happens, and Colleen visibly sags, spark draining from her eyes.

"I thought...  _damnit_ _!_ I - oh god,  _Roi!"_ Colleen breaks off mid-sentence as Roi lets out a heart-wrenching scream.

Roi  _knows_ he's out of time. He doesn't want to go, of course, he wants to stay here and protect his friends. But he can't. because he can't always be a hero. It hurts,  _so, **so**_ bad, and his entire body feels like it is on fire as he screams. Black waves are lapping at his vision.

 _Maybe if he stops fighting it, the pain will stop?_ he thinks. He doesn't know, but his mind is fuzzy and swirling with pain, and he just wants it to  _stop._

So he lets go.

As the black waves wipe out his vision, he sees Alex reaching out for him, and with a last smile, Roi Fabito joins the list of those claimed by the night.

Teala doesn't want to believe it, she  _can't_ lose him, not now! But he's gone, and his smile is gone and he's limp, that's not right, he should be jumping around and smiling, he's  _Roi._

Her thoughts are interrupted as the rest of the team, the ones sent to cure them, burst through the door. 

Matt's eyes are full of wild panic, the vial of deep-green liquid - the  _real_ antidote - clutched so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. Ro is noticeably out of breath, but she gasps as her eyes land on Colleen, Teala, and most importantly,  _Roi._ Mortimer seems to deflate, hope draining from his eyes, and even Calliope seems to be tearing up.

Matt lets out a choked sob, that sounds vaguely like the word ' _no_ '. He promised himself after JC, that he wouldn't be responsible for someone else's death - but here they are. Roi has died, and it could have been avoided if he had been faster. Once again, it's  _his_ fault. Once again,  _he's_ failed. And, once again, it's cost someone their  _life_.

Still, he forces himself over, crouching by Teala's side, carefully setting down the antidote. Gently, he closes Roi's eyes, and it looks like the Daredevil's gone to sleep. Then, he tentatively places a hand on Teala's shoulder, trying to comfort the clearly stricken girl.

"I'm so sorry, Teala. I.. I should have been  _faster._ " Matt sighs, knowing he'll be of little comfort to the Super Spy. "Teala, you need to take the antidote now, ok?"

Teala shuffles away from Matt, shaking her head gently. This confuses the Detective.

"Teala?"

"I don't want the antidote," she whispers, tears streaming down her face.

That sends Matt reeling. What is she saying? She doesn't  _want_ the  _antidote_ _?_ She'll  _die!_

And then it hits him.  _Roi_ was one of the few people she was close too, who wasn't attacking her or making her feel useless. And it's  _Roi_ who he's killed (indirectly, he'll admit, but its still his  _fault)._

"If I don't die here, then Nikita will make sure that I go in the next challenge, and..." she trailed off, biting her lip nervously.

Matt understands - there's little to no chance thatTeala will survive another challenge - and would it be pointless to try to? With Nikita (and by extension Manny, maybe even _Joey_ ) firmly against her, the chances are she'd end up in challenge after challenge until her luck run out. Even so, there's something niggling at the back of his mind.

"But you'll suffer, Teala," Ro whispers, tears pricking in the Jet Setter's eyes. As if on cue, Teala winces, rubbing the wound on her neck. She takes one last glance at Roi, whispers something under her breath, too quiet for anyone to hear, and shakily makes her way over to the couch to sit down, with Ro and Calliope's help.

"I know, Ro. And I won't say I'm not scared, but there's no getting out of it at this point." Teala chuckles sadly, and Ro flies at her with an embrace, sobbing quietly into the dying girl's shoulder. She pats the girls back comfortingly for a minute, quietly contemplating the irony of the situation.

And then it all gets suddenly worse.

When the first wave of intense agony comes, she tenses, and Ro moves away. "Is it.. getting worse?" the smaller girl asks, wishing there was something she could do to alleviate the pain.

Teala nods, gritting her teeth as her vision starts to swim. She's seeing double, and she squeezes her eyes shut. It hurts, so much, but she's sure she's made the right choice.

The dark haired girl whispers a goodbye to Ro, her only real friend left. She knows that Matt and Safiya will take care of her, so she's okay leaving the girl behind. Teala feels at peace, even though she's in agony.

As everything fades, she smiles, letting the night sweep her away. She'll see him again, very, very soon.

**Author's Note:**

> (This note was written last month, for another story, but I've chosen to put it here)  
> AAAA ok explanation time:  
> The reason my stories tend to die out kinda quickly is this:  
> I don't plan my stories??? I'm planning ETN:AFC now, don't worry, ok  
> but TSTSTS and DFDF? n o p e  
> I'm trying to save dfdf - its gonna be a good plot (hopefully), I kinda need to revamp it and i may redo chap 1.  
> tststs is very unlikely to be revived - I barely had a plotline for that anyway - I'm sorry. See, I'm a fandom dolphin - I dive in and out of fandoms (when I dive out, I'm just temporarily less obsessed, I don't suddenly hate the fandom now)  
> and I don't get the motivation to write a lot?? I try, I'll know I wanna write, but I can't get anything done? so Katie and (the real) Maddi  
> helping me is gonna really help, but only now can that really start - I mean, Maddi just got her invitation and I just wrote out a plan. a note on the oneshots as well, all three of the authors are working on pretty big (or at least biggish) projects - Bird's Afterlife Adventures, Cinder's healing (isn't) linear, and I've got ETN:AFC and this (also having two projects to switch between is helping me somehow) so its a more we'll write occasionally  
> I'm so sorry for letting y'all down with that but um yeah s o r r y  
> ok and a side note that's completely irrelevant - I just hit 100 (and 1) followers on Scratch (a programming site/social media that I also rarely post on) so aaaaaAAA go check me out if you want, its probs not worthwhile, the same username, same as everywhere!  
> and remember guys, make cookies - not war!
> 
> wow that was a bad note but I hope you all understand now.  
> also, check me out on tumblr, if you want! (@willowcat88)  
> <3<3<3  
> anyway, I hoped you enjoyed, and if you did, please leave a comment - they make my day!


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